Before the Open (Apr 19)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand led the way; the Philippines were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside. Finland, Russia, Norway, Israel, Austria and Saudi Arabia are up the most; Kenya is down. Futures in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: State of the Market
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The dollar is flat. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold is down; silver is up. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Clorox (CLX -0.09%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal-Weight’ at Morgan Stanley with a price target of $116.
American Express (AXP +1.37%) climbed more than 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $9.72 billion, better than consensus of $9.51 billion.
Morgan Stanley (MS +0.04%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Outperform’ at Vining Sparks with a price target of $67.
PTC Inc (PTC +0.53%) slipped 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q3 adjusted EPS of 30 cents to 34 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 33 cents.
Alcoa (AA +4.06%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted Ebitda of $653 million, better than consensus of $612.9 million, and said it sees full-year adjusted Ebitda of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion, well above consensus of $2.58 billion.
Sleep Number (SNBR -1.16%) sank 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 comparable sales fell -3%, weaker than consensus of -2%, and then said it sees full-year EPS of $1.70 to $2.00, the midpoint below consensus of $1.86.
Novocure Ltd (NVCR +2.37%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Deutsche Bank with a price target of $29.
Kinder Morgan (KMI +0.94%) gained 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted Ebitda of $1.90 billion, higher than consensus of $1.86 billion, and then raised its quarterly dividend to 20 cents from 12.5 cents.
Ship Finance International Ltd (SFL +0.68%) dropped 4% in after-hours trading after ii said it intends to offer $150 million in convertible senior subordinated notes due 2023.
Paratek Pharmaceuticals (PRTK -2.21%) slid over 9% in after-hours trading after it proposed a private offering of $125 million in convertible senior subordinated notes due 2024.
Sientra (SIEN +7.70%) jumped over 12% in after-hours trading after it said the FDA approved its PMA supplement allowing commercialization of its OPUS-branded breast implant products.
Helios & Matheson Analytics (HMNY -3.28%) fell over 10% in after-hours trading after it announced an at-the-market equity offering sales agreement with Canaccord Genuity LLC to sell up to $150 million shares of its common stock.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL -5.60%) lost nearly 4% in after-hours trading when it announced that it intends to offer 15 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
Pier 1 Imports (PIR -3.08%) tumbled nearly 15% in after-hours trading after it said it will discontinue paying its 7 cents a share quarterly dividend to allocate greater resources towards its 3-year strategic plan to drive sales and increase shareholder value.
Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Kinder Morgan (KMI) +1.6% AH on Q1 earnings, dividend increase.
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) +5% AH on Q1 earnings, raising 2018 EBITDA guidance.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) +4% AH Q1 earnings beat, guidance.
Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI) +0.4% AH on healthy Q1 metrics, FFO guidance.
United Rentals (NYSE:URI) -3.3% AH despite Q1 earnings beat.
Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP) -1.1% AH despite almost meeting estimates, higher freight volume.
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) unchanged AH on Q1 earnings beat.
Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) -16.8% AH on soft Q4 sales, buyback cessation.
PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) -1.9% AH despite Q2 earnings beat, growing subscription revenue.
Sleep Number (NASDAQ:SNBR) -9.6% AH on Q1 earnings miss.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:00 Fed’s Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard speech
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Philly Fed Business Outlook
9:30 Randal Quarles: “Semi-Annual Testimony on the Federal Reserve’s Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System”
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
6:45 PM Fed’s Mester: Monetary Policy and Economic Outlook
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY